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Jun 29

Media Spotlight - Menu Innovator® - The Ingredients You Need to Know

Media Spotlight – A monthly review with the freshest culinary insight! All of our spotlights are inspired by Menu Innovator®. For more information on Menu Innovator®, email tlagana@culinarysystems.com.

Top CuisinesMediterraneanLatinAmericanAsian

Top TopicsGlobal Cuisine in the USSeafoodVegetablesBeverages

Noteworthy Ingredients

This month, our Media Spotlight highlights some very unique ingredients. What makes them especially noteworthy is the ability that they all have to add strong kicks of flavor to a variety of plates. If you’re looking to add a new twist to the familiar, look no further!

Asian ElementsSavory and salty go hand in hand with a variety of Asian ingredients. Traditionally, we do not often see table salt as an ingredient. Instead components such as gochujang, patis, and tamari add needed saltiness to a dish, bringing subtle flavors to the forefront. Most of us are familiar with tamari, and many are getting accustomed to gochujang (fermented soybean paste) as it begins to appear on more and more menus. Expect patis to be just as relevant! This Filipino fish sauce is a long time staple in the kitchen - adding flavor to rice porridges and needed saltiness to dipping sauces.

PeppersPeppers have been an essential in the kitchen, yet they still manage to grow even more in popularity. There is always a “new” pepper that hasn’t quite hit the mainstream dining table yet. And as for the peppers that are a bit more common, our Menu Innovator chefs, as well as chefs abroad, continue to find new ways to use them! In Turkey and much of the Eastern Mediterranean, the go-to seasoning is ground Marash pepper. It is standard to find it at the tables of most dining rooms throughout certain parts of the Middle East! Marash chilies are rich in flavor with a slow, subtle heat. Their fruity, non-acidic heat make them ideal for finishing salads, pastas, pizza, and even sandwiches. On the sweeter side, piquillo peppers do well with a variety of palates – making them a somewhat obvious choice for a great deal of chefs in the kitchen. And chipotle continues to stay a go-to ingredient. This month we see chipotle used in infusions, like almond chipotle oil. Forget the burrito, this is one way to bring chipotle to a salad that chefs love!